Sunday, November 29, 2009

Sorry it has taken a day to post this. Gen came much later in the day then we expected, around 5 pm. It's an 8 hour drive from the orphanage to where we're staying in Lanzhou. Afterwards we went to a photo shop to have passport photos taken for Gen. By the time we ate supper, we were all very tired. Gen fell asleep at 8:30 and so did we shortly after. She slept through the entire night, which was such a blessing! Today we went out to the Civil Affairs Office to do all the official paperwork that says Gen is ours! including fingerprints (us) and footprints (her). She didn't like getting her foot inked very much and cried a little. Other than that, not a lot of tears. She has done much better than the director and caregivers thought she would. She is already bonding with us a bit. Paul has been able to make her giggle by bouncing her and her laugh is so cute, sort of high and squeaky. Well, I'll let you enjoy some first meeting pictures, and I'll post more when I get a chance. Everything is going very well, and we have been thanking God for such a wonderful first day!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

We leave for Lanzhou at 5:15 in the morning to go to the airport. Yep, you read right... 5:15... AM.

Our guide has the hotel preparing a breakfast box to go for us. So nice of her to do that. We got a little update on Gen while we were here in Beijing. Our last update was 6 months ago and she was only walking assisted. Now she is walking running and jumping! She is also saying some words too, which is wonderful news! Thank you everyone who has been praying for us. I have felt so at peace while here and I'm praying I feel as peaceful tomorrow. I'm sure Gen will be stressed during the handover so I want to be reassuring for her. Will post pics as soon as we possibly can after getting Gen. So excited!!

Friday, November 27, 2009

Posting this from Yahoo (Blogger is blocked in China) so I hope it comes out okay. We arrived in Beijing safely Thursday night. It was a long squishy plane ride but very smooth. We got caught up in rush hour traffic on the way to the hotel, so it took much longer to get there, and the whole ride was a lot of quick stops and goes with lots of honking. When we finally arrived at the hotel and I stood still, it felt like my body was still moving! We were so tired from the trip we just ate a snack and went right to bed.

Friday morning we had a tour guide take us see the Great Wall of China. Wow! Very amazing. Climbing it however, was no small feat. The steps are very steep, and the steps are not a uniform height. So one step might be 2 inches high, while the next might be 10! Needless to say, our legs are a little sore, and we only climbed to the first tower. Yes, very out of shape, ha ha.

I'll write more later but we are off to have breakfast and then have our orientation meeting with our travel group. Here's some pics of our flight (just for you, kids!) and some of the Great Wall. The first few flight pics are from Portland to Chicago and the last few are from Chicago to China. The very last one is when we landed at the Beijing airport. I may have to post this in a few batches so they'll post separately.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Our travel dates came yesterday!! We are officially leaving the day before Thanksgiving! We arrive in Beijing on Thanksgiving Day and will meet Gen on the 29th!!!

I spent over 6 hours on and off the phone and computer trying to book tickets yesterday. What a headache that was! I am sooo glad I can check that off my list. Although I still have a couple small details I need to check on, so back on the phone I go.... Uhggg.....

This morning the kids are so excited; they're already packing their bags to go their Mimi and Poppa's and their Aunt's house. One minute Gemma and Seth are arguing with each other about who ate the most of their favorite breakfast cereal, the next they're rushing upstairs together to pick out what clothes and things to pack. Gotta love it. :O)

Thursday, November 5, 2009

The all elusive TA finally appeared!!!! Way overdue, but in a few weeks I won't care a bit!Sorry it's been so long since I posted last... but waiting for this Travel Approval was very stressful and depressing (because it was taking so long)... and I just didn't have it in me to write how I was feeling in any great detail.

Now we're waiting to hear when our CA will be... If we can get a CA the first week of December, we'll leave on the 18th or 19th of this month. If not, then we'll be leaving on the 2nd or 3rd of December. We should find out the final verdict by Monday.

Now I'm off to clean, pack, and do all the things I should have done 2 weeks ago, hee hee!